Virtuozzo — old-school container magic that still holds its ground
It’s easy to forget, but containers didn’t start with Docker. Way before that, Virtuozzo (and its open cousin OpenVZ) were already slicing up Linux systems into dozens — sometimes hundreds — of isolated, efficient environments. One host, one kernel, many virtual spaces. No emulation. No fluff.
The approach was simple: skip the hypervisor. Share the kernel. Let each container think it’s on its own. That was it. And honestly? It still works. Hosting providers ran their entire stack on it. VPS resellers lived on it. You could cram ten times more containers onto a node than VMs — and they’d hold up.
Now, Virtuozzo plays a wider game. Containers? Still there. But with KVM baked in, it runs full virtual machines when it has to. Throw in a storage backend, a GUI, even Kubernetes support… it’s become more versatile, but the foundation hasn’t changed.
What It Still Gets Right
| Core Piece | Why It Matters |
| OS-level containers | No full OS per guest — faster, lighter, cleaner |
| KVM support (optional) | Switch to full virtualization for Windows or isolated workloads |
| Migration built-in | Containers move between nodes with barely a hiccup |
| Storage baked in | Own distributed storage — similar to Ceph, but more integrated |
| Resource controls | Fine-grained limits for CPU, RAM, disk, I/O per container |
| High density | Hundreds of containers per node — if the kernel and tuning are solid |
| Split model | Use open-source OpenVZ, or go full stack with Virtuozzo’s commercial suite |
Where It Still Fits
– Web hosting platforms that need to run 200 containers on a single box and not flinch
– Internal infrastructure — mail relays, DNS nodes, backend workers — tightly packed and isolated
– Edge environments with very little hardware, but a need to run multiple cleanly separated apps
– Long-living VPS setups where people don’t want surprises or updates breaking things
– Mixed setups: container-heavy, but needing a few VMs here and there without switching toolchains
What It Needs to Run
| Part | Notes |
| Host OS | Linux-based; usually RHEL/CentOS with OpenVZ/Virtuozzo kernel patches |
| CPU | Standard x86_64; KVM use needs VT-x or AMD-V |
| Network | Bridge/VLAN/SDN support; very configurable, sometimes too much |
| Storage | Works with local, NAS, or Virtuozzo’s own clustered storage layer |
| Access Model | CLI (vzctl, prlctl) or Web UI (in Virtuozzo commercial) |
| License | OpenVZ is FOSS; Virtuozzo adds paid features, support, GUI, orchestration stack |
Setup? Not Hard — Just Honest
1. Pick your base
Want control and simplicity? Go with OpenVZ. Need dashboards, high-availability, backup tools? Virtuozzo.
2. Install a patched kernel
Most RHEL-based distros can take it. Virtuozzo has its own ISO — handles kernel, tools, and UI.
3. Fire up a container
No magic. Use vzctl create, assign hostname, IP, resources. Done in 30 seconds.
4. Or a VM, if you must
Use prlctl (Virtuozzo) or standard KVM tools. Windows, full Linux, whatever’s needed.
5. Keep it clean
Use quotas. Set CPU shares. Don’t let containers grow wild. The scheduler’s fair, but not magic.
Final Word
Virtuozzo isn’t shiny. It’s not trendy. But it works — and it’s been working for two decades in real environments, not labs.
For people who want to pack a lot into a server, and still sleep at night — it remains one of the most stable ways to do it.
